Spores Appear To Be A Growing Problem

There is yet ANOTHER mold-infested FAA facility to tell you about. For the second time in four years, the FAA is working to remove the toxic allergen from the control tower at Kansas City International Airport.

According to the Kansas City Star, work began earlier this month, and should be completed by Halloween. FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said only the tower's elevator shaft, lobbies and stairwells remain to be cleaned.

That isn't good enough for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, however. The union -- still bitter over failed labor negotiations last year, and the FAA's subsequent forcing of its own contract on controllers -- is concerned with how the mold recurred... and what health issues it may be connected to.

Kevin Peterson, NATCA's rep at MCI, says several controllers have experienced unexplained illnesses. "When you find out you have been working in a mold-infested building for the past four to five years, it makes you start to wonder how many of these illnesses were caused by mold," he said.

NATCA also notes the tower at MCI is identical to the tower at Detroit Metro... which is also plagued with mold. Controllers in Detroit filed a lawsuit in Wayne County, MI Circuit Court regarding a nearly three-year-old problem of toxic black mold that has sickened many controllers, including several who have missed significant amounts of work and continue to suffer breathing and other serious health problems.

The suit contains allegations that contractors hired by the Federal Aviation Administration failed to properly remove mold and provide a work plan for effective removal of mold contamination. According to Peterson, Kansas City has the same issue. 

"We are seeing contractors hauling wheel barrows of mold-contaminated material in our hallways and up and down in the same elevator employees use," he said.

Earlier this month, another mold infestation at Atlanta Center -- the nation’s busiest air traffic control facility -- was brought to the media’s attention. The union asserts Scopulariopsis spores have caused approximately half of the more than 300 controllers in the facility to suffer from various degrees of health problems over a prolonged period of time.

Cory told the Star all the work at MCI follows guidelines established by the New York City Department of Health, regarded as the industry standard. The FAA has also retained an independent industrial hygienist to oversee the removal, which so far has coat about $180,000, she said.

The FAA spokeswoman also asserts the FAA will inspect the tower periodically, for any new signs of mold growth and moisture. "Our goal," she said, "is to stay on top of this."

As ANN reported earlier this week, mold was also recently discovered in the radar room at Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR).

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.natca.org, www.flykci.com